I'm buying cheap from now on....

[dinder1]

I don't consider NC cigars to be a "cheap" alternative to a good Habano I laugh when I walk into a local shop and see some boutique NC cigars selling for $200 to $400 a box!
I'm not saying that I don't like NC cigars, or that they don't have their good points.......but I have many $5.00 a stick CCs that will blow away 90% of the NC stuff that I see selling for $10.00-30.00 a stick.
I know that I may catch some sh..... for this, but I find Habano cigars to be a bargain compared to local prices for NCs.

[kingcohiba]

what are these $5.00 ccs that will blow away some of these 10-30 dollar sticks? id like to know cuz i want to buy some. id put a good padron against any of these 5 dollar sticks.

[dinder1]

what are these $5.00 ccs that will blow away some of these 10-30 dollar sticks? id like to know cuz i want to buy some. id put a good padron against any of these 5 dollar sticks.

Well, I just smoked a wonderful Trinidad Coloniales that cost me under $6.00 per stick. Don't get me wrong, I do like NC cigars, but I just think that they are over priced these days.

[kingcohiba]

ive seen those and wondered if they were any good. ive considered some of these small corona sized cigars but have bought some in the past and a great percentage were plugged. heard great things about the trinidads though. im a firm believer that no cigar should be over 5 bucks! i had a monte sublime the other night. good cigar but not worth the price. i keep going on about these padrons, good cigars, but not worth the price.

[kingcohiba]

oh btw had one of those farachitos lately? been thinking about trying another myself soon.

[Davros]

I've personally never tried a N.C that has the complexity of a Cuban. Every single one I've tried has tasted OK but has no real depth to it, and I don't mean strength, just flavours.

[whisky77]

Preference.

I don`t have a lot of experience of smoking a lot of NC, but the few I have smoked recently seem to have been well constructed and they appear to be a far better smoke than what used to be available in the early nineties.

The main thing regarding some of the NC is that they seen to lack the same depth of taste which many of the Cubans display, and this has probably been why so many BOTL will pay more for a Cuban than a NC.

It`s all down to personal preference and cost at the end of the day.

[misterbulgarin]

Oh year I remember that really good NC, it was a Black pearl Robusto, I was blown away by the complexity of it, it could well of been an CC for all i could know, it was that good.

[rokkitsci]

The Floodgates Have Opened!

First a couple general comments:

1) Cuban Crafters is the most unheralded producer of some of the best cigars per dollar (or pound Sterling) on the planet. They have unbelievable quality control, in that virtually every line of cigar they produce is consistent, consistent, consistent. And did I mention cheap?

2) The Georges Reserve that Mr. B mentioned was a fortuitous lark that I happened upon by chance. Whilst perusing the Famous Smoke catalog, I noticed this brand, noted that it was actually made by Oliva, and bought a box just for laffs to send out as my personal vitola. Needless to say, it was quite a pleasant surprise to find out that not only was it a gorgeous looking stick (all the sizes), but a damn decent smoke. Smooth, creamy, great burn, yadda, yadda, yadda. And quite reasonably priced.

Now, on to the controversy.

There are many of you Brit blokes who are of the opinion that if it ain't a Cuban, it ain't a see-gar. Pity. You're missing out on some really, really nice smokes. The simple fact of the matter is that with such a plethora of NC's, it's almost inevitable that some of them might actually be pretty decent. Contrariwise, just because it's a CC, doesn't guarantee that it will be a superior smoke.

Thanks entirely to the wonderful folk in this forum, I have now sampled a good many CC's which had heretofore evaded my lustation. In general, my experiences have been quite good. Cubans seem to share what I term a "barnyard earthiness" that isn't present in a non-Cuban. Beyond that, each brand and each size and shape brings its own identity into play and the only valid assessment that can be made is the same one that applies to wine or art: You like what pleases your particular taste.

I read reviews to get a consensus, but in the end it's my own peculiar sense of what's tasty and what's not that determines whether I like a cigar or not. Obviously, if the damn stogie is plugged, races down one side, or smells like burning cockroaches, that's going to seriously affect your opinion. But, in the main, if it smokes decently, you're going to base your review on what YOU like, not what anyone else has told you.

So, it's tough to generalize. Best bet is to find someone who seems to have similar tastes (in my case, MB and jimmeh and that wacky eyetalian Macanudo Toscanini fellow, seem to favor many of the same smokes as I do) and weigh your choices more heavily based on what they might have to say. Otherwise, YMMV.

After a relatively long stint of...CRAP smoking experiences, i've decided that the majority of my humidor real estate will be filled with non-cubans.

[G-man]

I say Ole' Chap

Smoke what you like!
And like what you smoke!!
Who and I said Who
Gives a shit if its a CC or a NC cigar?
The only one U have to please is yourself
My .02
The End

[Big J]

Smoke what you like!

And like what you smoke!!
Who and I said Who
Gives a shit if its a CC or a NC cigar?
The only one U have to please is yourself
My .02

The End

Nicely said, gman!

[Davros]

Smoke what you like!
And like what you smoke!!
Who and I said Who
Gives a shit if its a CC or a NC cigar?
The only one U have to please is yourself
My .02
The End

I couldn't agree any more with that sentiment, I'm only sorry I've never tried a good NC. Nothing to do with "I only smoke Cubans"

[G-man]

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I'm buying cheap from now on.... OK their INEXPENSIVE Not Cheap! Makes them feel dirty LMAO
When I refer to Cubans do I call them Over priced? NO
We all can't help were our familys settled and whats avalible to us
But we can choose our friends and words! U tellum G
And all on here I consider family!


After a relatively long stint of...CRAP smoking experiences, i've decided that the majority of my humidor real estate will be filled with non-cubans. I've just had a lovely Cuban Crafters torpedo (cameroon wrapper I believe, had a blue band). I picked this out tonight to get it out the way, the band looked cheap so I thought it would smoke crap, ridiculous close mindedness I know, but we all think that.

And boy how I was wrong, what a marvellous cigar, brilliant white ash all the way down, brilliant draw and considering I cut my torpedos really high up on the cap to maximize draw, this is was great. If I could fault the cigar I occassionally had to keep the burn even as it would sometimes go un-even, but the good experience far outweighed the cons. Teach me to think like that again.

This is not the first time, Rokkit let me in on a little cigar secret, namely Georges Reserve. Now this is a cheap stick, but they are goddamn excellent. Infact my top drawer is full of these now, I have a regular friend who comes round to smoke them too as he loves them.

Not being funny, but I'd rather have a box of those Cuban Crafter things and some Georges Torps than to splash out on a box of CC's.

I've gained this attitude because my last few experiences with cigars in general have been piss poor, I'll show you via a 'recent experience rating' paragraph

[cohibaIV]

I've personally never tried a N.C that has the complexity of a Cuban. Every single one I've tried has tasted OK but has no real depth to it, and I don't mean strength, just flavours.

Rocky Patel Decada have loads of flavour..you MUST try..

Also Padron 1926...again, on par with Cubans..

[Boss Hog]

The new NC revolution starts here..

I've always kept a reasonable selection of NC's in the humi, some were cheap some were not. My introduction into cigars was only NC's and wasnt until at least 6 months of smoking I had my first CC.

I have a respectable amount of CC's as well and have a few brands that I will always buy. I wont purposely go out and get CC's over NC's just because they are CC's.

I also dont and wont smoke CC's (or even some NC's ) on a daily basis, mainly for price and I generally keep my CC's for a time when I can sit down in peace, enjoy it and give it the time it deserves.
Lets face it, we are litterally burning money
Like Mr B said he's had some bad experiences with CC's and so have I, not the same brands mind.
One of mine was with CC R&J's I have gone back to them up to 10 times sourced from different places just to be sure and each time it wasnt very nice and I simply didnt like them. But what is interesting is that I have some of the NC versions of R&J and enjoy them greatly. Same brandname different points of origin.

How many people on here have smoked cigarettes? do you only smoke cigarettes that were made in a certain country only? I'm guessing no most of the time you will stick to a certain brand. Why? because you like them.

There is a huge growing range of NC's out there, which should excite people into trying, some you wont like, some you will but it shouldnt stop the fun of trying them. you never know you might just find one that becomes a stable filler of your humi.